BGY3201: PLANT STRUCTURE AND

FUNCTION

POLLINATION AND
POLLINATORS

Pollination

 Pollination refers to the transfer of pollen

grains from anthers to the stigma.
Types of pollination:
1)self-pollination
When anthers
released
pollen and land on
a stigma
of the same flower

2)cross-pollination
When anthers released
pollen and land into a
stigma of different
flowers

Self-pollination is prevented when :

the plants are unisexual means the male and
female flower are on different plants.
In bisexual or hermaphrodite flowers, stamen
and stigma in a flower mature at different
times. Less chance for the pollen to fertilize on
the stigma of the same flower.
The other way of prevention is selfincompatibility where the pollen lands on its
respective stigma in the same flower, but the
pollen tube still fails to grow.

Pollen Germination and Double

Fertilisation

 Once a pollen grain lands on a stigma, it will absorb the moisture

on the stigma and germinate.
A pollen tube will grow out from the pollen and will grow down the
style into the ovary.
While the tube growing, the nucleus will undergo mitosis and form
two male nuclei.
The tip of the pollen tube is then enters the micropyle.
The two male nuclei (male gametes) is discharged and enter the
embryo sac.
One male nucleus will fuse with egg nucleus forming diploid
zygote and another one combines with two polar nuclei to form
triploid endosperm tissue which is food storing tissue of the seed.
The fusion of two male nuclei with egg nucleus and two polar
nuclei is what we called double fertilisation.

Pollinators
Animal pollinators
Animal pollinators benefited by getting the nutrition from nectar
and pollen.
When they go to the flower to get food, the animals accidentally
rub against stamen and the pollen stick on their body.
If they went to another flower, the pollen on their body might
stick to the stigma on the new flower.
Flowers function is to attract animal pollinators. A brightly
coloured flower, structure of the flower and the odour are
important features to attract animal pollinators to go into the
flower.

Wind pollinators
The wind picks up the pollen and the pollen will
be then blown out by the wind and land into the
stigma.
Wind-pollinated plants usually produce a light,
dry pollen from the small flower so that it can be
carried away by the wind.

Water pollination
Water pollination is when pollen are carried to
the stigma by water.
Pollen float on the surface of water and the
water current help the pollen to move until it
contacts stigma on another flower.
They usually have small, inconspicuous male
flower while female flower has large and
leathery stigma.